Tips for Healthy Hands

After washing your hands, pat dry and, while moist, use a moisturizer on the hands, cuticles and nails. Chemically enhanced moisturizers that contain urea of lactic acid are even more efficient in binding water to the skin.

Wear gloves when doing work that might damage the hands or nails, such as gardening or shovelling snow.

Nail polish protects the nail from stains, physical trauma, and acts as a barrier to chemicals. Use it but don`t overuse it or it may stain and dry nails, particularly if nail polish hardeners are used frequently. A base coat will allow your polish to last longer.

Every night, before bedtime, massage your hands with a cream for few minutes.

After your bath or any washing , always massage your hands with a lubricating cream. In fact, barrier creams should always be used when tackling particularly dirty and greasy jobs.

Get into the habit of giving yourself a weekly manicure, which will make your hands look good along with helping them to combat annoying problems like chipping, splitting, peeling and cracking.

Do not use too much polish remover. Apply moisturizer after using nail polish remover in order minimize the irritating and drying cation of the acetone.

As they age, the nails thicken, grow more slowly, repair poorly and are susceptible to various skin diseases. Watch for changes and see your dermatologist early enough to treat problems.

You can give an instant refresh treatment to your hands at home by soaking your dry hands in warm olive oil. Fill a teacup with the warmed oil, dip in your fingers and let them soak for a few minutes. When you remove them rub the oil into your hands and allow as much of it as possible to be absorbed before rinsing away the excess. Alternatively, you can smother your hands with rich cold creams.

You must wear gloves while working in the garden and kitchen. In case you find them uncomfortable use the barrier cream. A few recipes of the same are given below.